NEWS & STORIES

First EU tax haven blacklist names 17 countries

Oxfam calls on Irish Government to tackle tax avoidance at home and globally

5th December 2017

EU finance ministers including Minister Paschal Donohoe have today adopted the first EU blacklist of tax havens. The list includes 17 mostly small countries. The EU has also published an additional grey list of countries that currently qualify as tax havens but have promised reforms.

The blacklisting process considered non-EU member states only.

Reacting to the news, Oxfam Ireland Chief Executive Jim Clarken said: “We welcome the EU’s commitment to addressing the damage done by tax havens and this first concrete step towards tackling tax avoidance. However, it is worrying to see that some of the most notorious tax havens got away on the grey list.

“Placing countries on a grey list shouldn't just be a way of letting them off the hook, as has happened with other blacklisting efforts in the past. The EU has to make sure governments on the grey list follow up on their commitments, or else they must be blacklisted.

“It’s a sad irony that if the EU were to apply the criteria to its own member states, Ireland, along with three EU countries; Malta, the Netherlands and Luxembourg would be blacklisted too. While we welcome Minister Donohoe’s support for the blacklisting process, we continue to call for him and the Irish government to tackle tax avoidance at home as well as globally.

Specifically, we need the government to be proactively engaged in tackling existing tax avoidance mechanisms which Ireland is inadvertently facilitating.

The EU’s list was established following a screening and a dialogue conducted during 2017 with a large number of third country jurisdictions. Those that appear on the list failed to take meaningful action to address deficiencies identified and did not engage in a meaningful dialogue on the basis of the EU’s criteria. Work on the list started in July 2016 within the Council's working group responsible for implementing an EU code of conduct on business taxation, in coordination with its high-level working party for taxation.

Last week, Oxfam published the report ‘Blacklist or whitewash?’, showing what a robust blacklist of tax havens would look like if the EU were to objectively apply its own criteria and not bow to political pressures. Oxfam concluded that at least 35 non-EU countries should be included in the EU tax haven blacklist. In addition, four EU member states fail the EU’s own criteria: Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Malta.

An interactive map shows the 39 countries listed in the report and explains why they should have been blacklisted by the EU.

The EU committed to a blacklist process in the wake of scandals like the Panama Papers and Lux Leaks that showed how tax havens let the companies and the super-rich get away with billions in unpaid taxes. The EU blacklist is based on three criteria: transparency, fair taxation, and participation in international fora on tax.

The EU’s blacklisting negotiations have taken place behind closed doors, and countries participating in the talks have refused to answer questions. The process has been in the hands of one of Brussels’ most secretive working bodies, the so-called Code of Conduct Group, which insists on its work being confidential.

· 86% of European are in favour of “tougher rules on tax avoidance and tax havens”, while 8% are “against the idea” according to the Standard Eurobarometer, published in July 2017.

Following the Paradise Papers scandal, Oxfam released a 5-point plan outlining steps governments should take to prevent further scandals on a global scale. This includes establishing a global blacklist of tax havens that naming countries such as Ireland and the Netherlands that have been key players in the Paradise Papers scandal.